Bombay High Court halts release of “Hamare Baarah” until June 14

Annu Kapoor’s movie Hamare Baarah has sparked widespread discourse, leading to a vacation bench of the Bombay High Court hearing the petition regarding the movie’s release date. The new order has deferred the release date of Kapoor’s movie until June 14.

According to the Free Press Journal, the Bombay High Court put a hold on the release of the Annu Kapoor starrer Hamare Baarah until June 14, 2024. Initially scheduled for release on June 7, the court made this decision after a petition was filed by Azhar Tambol objecting to certain dialogues in the movie’s trailers posted on social media.

The Central Bureau of Film Certification (CBFC) informed the bench that while it had issued a certificate for the movie, it had no authority over the trailers released on YouTube.

The petitioner’s advocate, Advait Sethna, stated that the film underwent thorough examination by an eight-member committee, which suggested certain modifications. After complying with these recommendations, the movie received a U/A certification.

Sethna also mentioned that the filmmakers had removed the objected dialogue from the movie. However, the court questioned how the petitioner had seen the deleted dialogues and highlighted that the CBFC lacked control over internet-released trailers.

The judges raised doubts about the petitioner’s standing to file the petition, expressing concerns about setting a precedent for citizens to halt movie releases. The petitioner’s advocate informed the court that they had served a copy of the petition to the movie makers, but no one appeared for the hearing.

Consequently, the court postponed the movie’s release by a week and instructed the CBFC to submit its response. The hearing on the plea was scheduled for June 10. It’s worth noting that on May 24, the makers and crew of the movie filed a complaint with the Versova Police Station due to continuous death and rape threats received via social media from unidentified individuals.